Apple Design Teams Get Cozier  —  Last October Apple Inc. announced a management shake-up designed to increase collaboration across its different divisions.  Sure enough, some walls have come down, though many others remain.  —  One of the biggest areas of change has been design.

Apple beefs up iCloud, Apple ID security with two-step verification  —  Today, Apple has rolled out a new two-step verification service for iCloud and Apple ID users.  This functionality greatly enhances the security of Apple accounts because it requires users to use a trusted device and an extra security code.

Google's Android unit reportedly building a smartwatch  —  According to a recent report from The Financial Times, Google might also be getting into the smartwatch game.  And unlike Glass, which was developed in the company's experimental X Lab, the watch (not pictured above) …

IPhone Contracts With Carriers Under Scrutiny in Europe  —  European Union regulators are examining the contracts Apple strikes with cellphone carriers that sell its iPhone for possible antitrust violations after several carriers complained that the deals throttled competition.

App Store apps that access UDIDs, don't support iPhone 5/Retina to be rejected May 1  —  Apple has informed developers that it will begin officially rejecting newly submitted and updated applications that access the iOS device UDID.  Apple says that this new policy will begin on May 1st.

Google to Facebook: We can do a photos-only feed too  —  Unlike Facebook, the search company only had to make the tiniest of tweaks to Google+ to let members filter updates for photos.  —  Facebook dramatically altered its News Feed in part to give members a way to filter its frenzied feed for photos.

HBO CEO mulls teaming with broadband partners for HBO GO  —  (Reuters) - HBO could widen access to its HBO GO online streaming service by teaming up with broadband Internet providers for customers who do not subscribe to a cable TV service, according to HBO's Chief Executive Richard Plepler.

Apple blames rights holders for 70% mark-ups in Australia  —  Apple Australia boss Tony King has blamed “old-fashioned notions” of record labels, movie studios and TV networks for inflated prices of digital media paid by Australians on the iTunes store.  While claiming prices of Apple's products …

Apple, Google: Google Now not submitted to App Store  —  The company has confirmed to CNET that the app was never brought to the App Store's submission service, despite Eric Schmidt indicating it might have been.  —  Google Now has not been submitted yet to Apple's App Store, the iPhone maker has confirmed to CNET.

Adria Richards, PyCon, and How We All Lost  —  Let me get this out of the way: I don't like Adria Richards.  I think I have good reason to not like Adria Richards.  So I should be feeling some major Schadenfreude right now.  Instead, though, I think what's unfolded in the developer community in recent days has been a tragedy.

7 years later, another look at Twitter  —  I don't know exactly when I joined Twitter.  The account that I'm using now was opened in January of 2009, but there were others before that as I was playing around with the service and not really getting it.  —  Trudging back through my history …

Surprise!  Google chairman Eric Schmidt uses.. a BlackBerry  —  He likes the keyboard - even though Android alternatives are available.  Schmidt also spoke on whether Android and ChromeOS will merge: ‘not for a long time’  —  Who's the person you'd least expect to discover is a BlackBerry user?

Firefox Nightly Now Includes OdinMonkey, Brings JavaScript Closer To Running At Native Speeds  —  Browsers today are able to execute JavaScript code significantly faster than just a few years ago, but even as our web apps now look more like desktop apps, JavaScript performance is still a far cry …

IsoHunt's Fung helped users infringe, blew off “red flags,” say judges  —  A mosaic of Lady Justice at the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.  —  Thomas Hawk  —  A major Hollywood court win against the IsoHunt torrent site has been upheld on appeal.  In a ruling (PDF) issued this morning …

Google alters AdWords rules to charge for phone number clicks, will ban workarounds starting in April  —  Google has quietly announced a change in its AdWords rules that means businesses can no longer include their phone number in the advertisement's text starting next month.

Google applies for another Glass patent, thinks about controlling your garage door and fridge  —  In case you hadn't noticed, the people over at Mountain View continue to work pretty hard on bringing yet more functionality to its Google Glass.  During our patent application trawling this week …

Strategy Analytics: iCloud, Dropbox and Amazon top cloud media in the US  —  We often focus on market share for hardware, but cloud media services increasingly dictate our lives after the devices have reached our bags and pockets.  Wouldn't it be nice to know who rules the online media landscape?

BlackBerry Hoping Long-Awaited U.S. Launch Pays Off  —  BlackBerry officials say they are pleased with the early response in the two dozen or so countries where the company's all-new phones have launched.  —  However, the Canadian company's comeback effort will face a key test Friday …

Future Windows Phone speech recognition revealed in leaked video  —  Microsoft has had speech recognition in Windows Phone since it first debuted, but it looks like the company is preparing a fairly significant upgrade.  In a leaked video from Microsoft's TechFest earlier this month …

Box and Evernote execs: Don't ignore Microsoft's platforms  —  Evernote CTO Dave Engberg has noticed something funny: Just because a lot of people own a particular type of smartphone, that doesn't mean they actually download apps for it.  —  Speaking today at Business Insider's IGNITION Mobile conference …

Email app Mailbox hits 1M reservations filled as it moves into its new office at Dropbox  —  Mobile email client Mailbox has announced taking its 1 millionth reservation, as it moves into its new offices at its new parent company Dropbox.  —  The app was released to much fanfare just six weeks ago.